MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

9/18 Cubs lineup

Justin Germano will face the Reds on Tuesday in the first game of a three-game series at Wrigley Field. This will be former Cubs manager Dusty Baker’s 3,000th game as a manager. His record includes 1,556 games for the Giants, 648 for the Cubs, 795 for the Reds.

if you asked Sveum it would be because batting 2nd Valbeuno might get one more AB… which is dumb at this point…… but honestly Barney batting 8th is where he should be on a good team… he will get better pitches to hit down there anyways allowing him to pad his stats so you can all kiss his feet when he gets a hit that means nothing with the pitcher after him.

Well that seems to be the most ridiculous thing I have heard in a long time. If Barney is getting hits or walks and is on base 6 times in the last 2 games why would you want him to bat just before the pitcher? Why do you think his hits mean nothing – that is also ridiculous. And what is with this snide remark about kissing his feet? Jeez.

why do most of his hits not matter hitting in front of the pitcher? Well as you can see last night he got a hit ….pitcher came up and bunted him over…. dejesus lines out and inning over…. the second hit barney got on…. lahair hit for the pitcher and then scored on his double… idk how else I can show it to you but how it exactly happened last night.

I agree White, such snide, mean spirited remarks and comments are un called for. Just because we are fans of certain players do not mean we put them on a pedastal. I, NOT being a fan of Soriano have even admitted he is much better this year and a legit RBI guy and can’t ague the point anymore. That doesn’t make me a fan of Soriano but it does keep me from making snide
remarks about him. I think for some reason Barney is to some people like Soriano is to some people (me). It’s all just a healthy way of being fan of “your guy”. Barney should get the Gold Glove this season which doesn’t me any reasonable baseball fan would prefer him rather than Phillips. But Barney is by far the better GLOVE MAN.

Well Petrey, I think you should probably vote for Phillips for Golden Glove. I think you and he probably think the same way – that Barney basically sucks when it comes to being best 2nd base or more than an AVERAGE player. Phillips thinks he is the best – so go for it.

dude i don’t vote for the GG award… you don’t… carrie don’t… the managers do… guys that know the game better than myself and anyone else on this board. So I will take their opinion over yours…. I also never said Barney SUCKED… I even said in other posts on here that I would give the GG to Barney BUT what everyone on here seems to think is they are only looking at errors… they don’t… it takes into account their past performance offensively and defensively and i would even guess their team’s performance….

haha the problem is your opinions are like buttholes… everyone has one…. when you post an opinion that can be proved wrong by facts and stats does it really justify the opinion? I don’t know in my mind I would rather post something factual and concrete that some off the wall ignorant comment. And if you don’t want to be called dude then put your name as such otherwise it isn’t out of disrespect but no way for me to tell your a female instead of male.

My name is Connie and I am a girl – better known as ccbabe. A 76 yr. old “Babe”. Ha!
Whether those of us who post have exact “facts and stats” or not we do have a right to our “opinions”. You are free to post as many “facts and stats” as you wish. I have found that life is not based entirely on “facts and stats”. I have witnessed so many diversions from facts, so many miracles, so many occurrences that defy the stats that I cannot depend entirely on your “facts and stats” mentality. So I absolutely respect your right to post your views and I reserve the right to post my opinions and I continue each day to wish for miracles!

“Ignorance is bliss”. Tra La La! With Petrey available to inform us of our ignorance we should all be so well informed by the end of the season. In my “opinion” we should all continue to express our thoughts as Joey has suggested in a polite and civil discourse. Right now I feel a bit angry at being accused of ignorance but this too shall pass. Love to all.

Amen Mamma, amen. Lack of respect and civility is common in his comments. Facts are paramount to gaining his respect yet our goal is far from gaining his respect. He fails to
realize that opinion is what makes this blog so diverse and interesting and while giving
our opinions we give our respect. Another venue for his comments is in order and most
welcomed. Won’t happen, but most welcome. I find it so much nicer conducting discourse
with the likes of you and most other commentators on this site. Nice to see your comments.
He is however entitled to his opinion that opinions are not acceptable comments…ironic,
isn’t it?

Why thank you, Mamma Mia. We all know that I am a “Babe” not a dude. Ha Ha! I also agree with Joey that I enjoy exchanging ideas and opinions on this site with those who respect our thoughts. While we all have very different opinions about certain players, etc. it is fun to be able to express them and I think most of us are just plain wanting to be good Cubs fans.

Point proven. Now we have to capitulate to his rules? All this for one person that has the immature habit of calling people “dude”. You are correct Mamma and I apologize for my “another venue” comments as this is the land of the fee and he should of course feel welcome and comfortable here whether or not his presence makes some feel quite the opposite. But we do hold our own rather well, don’t we?!?!? :)

Also, facts are facts, everybody can get them but not everybody has our opinion which we like to share with others resulting in what will hopefully be a CIVIL, POLITE discourse. Opinions kind of take the boredom out of repeating facts. We are not here to run the Cubs, we are here to OPINE ABOUT THEM. I am glad the consensus is with us Mamma!!

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.